Police: Paris gunman thought to be 39-year-old

Photo: Jean Beaufort

PARIS (AP) - The Latest on the shootings of two police officers in Paris (all times local):

1:35 a.m.

Two police officials say the chief suspect in the fatal attack on police officers patrolling the Champs-Elysees in Paris was a 39-year-old man from a suburb east of the French capital.

Searches were conducted in at least one suburb east of Paris after Thursday's attack.

The police officials were not authorized to be publicly named discussing the ongoing investigation.

One police officer was killed and two others seriously injured when a gunman with an automatic weapon opened fire on police. Officers then shot and killed the assailant.

The suspect's name was not publicly released. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack and gave a pseudonym for the shooter, Abu Yusuf al-Beljiki, indicating he was Belgian or had lived in Belgium.

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12:40 a.m.

France's anti-terrorism prosecutor says that searches are under way after an attack on police guarding the Champs-Elysees shopping district in Paris.

Prosecutor Francois Molins said that investigators have verified the identity of the gunman in Thursday night's attack and are trying to determine whether he had accomplices. The identity was not released.

Three police officials say at least one location in the eastern Paris suburbs was being searched early Friday.

One police officer and the attacker were killed in the incident.

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12:00 a.m.

France's presidential candidates have expressed their solidarity with police forces following the shootings of three officers in Paris.

The 11 candidates were appearing on a television program ahead of the first round of voting in the two-part election when the attack that left one officer dead happened Thursday night.

Conservative contender Francois Fillon said on France 2 television he was canceling his planned campaign stops on Friday.

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen took to Twitter to offer her sympathy for law enforcement officers "once again targeted."

Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron offered his thoughts to the family of the dead officer.

Paris police say a gunman has killed a police officer and wounded another before being killed himself in an attack on the Champs-Elysees shopping district.

It was unclear how Trump concluded that terrorism may have been a factor. Paris police have yet to announce a motive,

Trump is also offering condolences from the U.S. to the people of France.

He calls the attack a "terrible thing" and says "it never ends." He says people must be strong and vigilant.

The attack came three days before the first round of balloting in France's presidential election.

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10:10 p.m.

Paris police and soldiers have sealed off the area around the Champs-Elysees after an attack on police, ordering tourists back into their hotels and blocking people from approaching the scene.

Emergency vehicles blocked the wide avenue that cuts across central Paris between the Arc de Triomphe and the Tuileries Gardens, normally packed with cars and tourists.

Subway stations in the area were closed off on Thursday night while police secure the scene.

Security forces are more widespread in Paris since deadly Islamic extremist attacks in recent years, and France remains under a state of emergency.

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10:05 p.m.

The French Interior Ministry says the shooting attack on the famed Champs-Elysees boulevard in Paris deliberately targeted police officers guarding the area.

Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said on BFM television that a man came out of a car and opened fire on a police vehicle.

One officer was killed and another was wounded.

Brandet says the police officers were "deliberately" targeted.

He says police are securing the area but there is "no other police operation underway" in the popular area.

Brandet says it's too early to say whether the attacker might have had an accomplice, and said authorities are studying multiple potential motives.

Speaking in Washington during a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, U.S. President Donald Trump said the shooting in Paris "looks like another terrorist attack" and sent condolences to France.

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9 p.m.

Paris police say a gunman has killed a police officer and wounded another before being killed himself in an attack on the Champs-Elysees shopping district.

Paris police spokeswoman Johanna Primevert told The Associated Press that the attacker targeted police guarding the area near the Franklin Roosevelt subway station Thursday night at the center of the avenue popular with tourists.

The attack came three days before the first round of balloting in France's tense presidential election. Security is high preceding the vote after police said they arrested two men Tuesday in what they described as a thwarted terror attack.

The incident recalled two recent attacks on soldiers providing security at prominent locations around Paris, one at the Louvre museum in February and one at Orly airport last month.

A witness identified only as Ines told French television station BFM that she heard a shooting and saw a man's body on the ground before police quickly evacuated the area where she works in a shop.

A French television station hosting a televised event with the 11 candidates running for president briefly interrupted its broadcast to report the shootings.

None of the candidates immediately commented.

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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